Hollow poppet valve



Feb. s, 1946. T, COLWELL f 2,394,150

"HOLLOW POPPET VALVE Original Filed Dec. 20, 1941] Patented Feb. 5, 1946 HOLLOW POPPET VALVE Archie. T. Colwell, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to 4 Thompson Products, Inc., a corporation of Ohio Original application December 20, 1941, Serial No. 423,716. Divided and this application February 21, 1944, Serial No. 523,272

2 Claims. (01. 123-4 8) invention relates to polished hollowarticles such ashollow poppet valves.

.Specifically the invention relates to hollow poppet valves free from circumferential scratches or cracks andcontaining longitudinally extending scratches as the only defects in the interior stem wall surface thereof.

.This application is' adivision of my copending application entitled; Method of polishing hollow stem valves, Serial423,716,' filed December 20, 1941,'now Patent Nil-2,373,459, April .10, 1945.

,The interior surface of a hollow poppet valve,

especially the interior-surface of the stem of such avalve, must Joe as continuous as possible to resist the'formation of fatigue cracksr Thereforeelaborate polishingoperationsare used to remove tool marks or scratches caused by reaming tools or drillsin-the valve cavities; Suchtool marks or scratches, are very dangerous since they form fatigue loci during use of the valve resulting, in some instancesin a complete failure of the valve.

Since the valve stem, in operation, is subjected mainly to tensile stresses, circumferential scratches in the stem wall are especially dangerous. Such circumferential scratches can readilyfcrm the loci for circumferential cracks in the valve stem because the stem is subjected to axial stressesandshocks as the valve opens and closes in an engine. The repeated pounding at tremendous speeds which the valve stem must undergo in highspeed, high compression engines, such as aircraft engines, has greatly increased the potential dangers of such circumferential scratches.

It ishighly desirable to make the hollow valve light in weight andwith thin walls which will rapidly transfer heat from the coolant which is sealed insuch hollowvalve. Therefore it is obvious that the valve metal must be made as efiicient as possible so as to successfully resist all strains to which it is subjected.

Since the valve stem is subjected to very little forces or stresses tendingto radially expand the same, it follows that the stem must be designed to resist the tension stresses and, when so designed, it will not failbecause of any radial stresses. 1 r

In accordance with this invention the interior wall of a hollow stem valve is subjected to rotary polishing treatments for removing as many tool marks and scratches as possible. The rotary polishing operation, however, even when carried out with extreme care; will leave at least a few circumferential scratches in this interior surface.

but nevertheless they are dangerous as fatigue loci. I

In accordance with this invention the rotary polishing operation is followed up with a long f tudinal or swabbing polishing operation. This longitudinal swabbing removes circumferential scratchesalthough it may impart axial or longitudinal scratches to the interior stem surface. However, the longitudinal scratches are not dangerous since, as explained above, the valve stem is not subjected to high radial stresses. Thus, while the longitudinal scratches may serve as loci for radial'fatigue cracks, they do not form such loci for cracks formed due to axial tension, and their presence is not harmful.

I Asa result of the invention, therefore, the

dangerous circumferential scratches are comvidehollow. stemmed poppet valveswhich are free from interlor'scratches which might serve as fatigue loclfor cracks developed as a result of axial loading of the valve.

' A further object of the invention is to obliter ate circumferential scratches in theinterior surface of ahollow valve'stem and thereby produce a strongerjvalve. V

' Another object of the invention is to provide a polished hollow, article free from circumferential cracks andscratches, and containing longitudinal scratches as the only defects in the surface thereof.

A further object of the invention is to produce a hollow stemmed poppet valve which only has longitudinally extending scratches in its interior surface.

Other and further objects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the annexed sheet of drawings which, by way of preferred example, illustrates an embodiment of the process.

' On the drawing:

Figure l is a broken fragmentary side elevain longitudinal cross-section;

Figure 2 is a broken fragmentary elevational view of areciprocating or swabbing typepolishing' machine to obliterate the circumferential scratches remaining in the valve shown in longi- These scratches may even be of microscopic size 5 tudinal cross-section;

Figure is a fragmentary side=elevationalview of one form of polishing tool;

Figure 6 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view,- with parts in elevation, of another form of 1301- ishing tool;

Figure 7 is a transverse cross-sectionallview taken along the line VII-VII of 'Figure fi.

As shown on the drawing: 7 In Figure 1 of the drawing thereference-numeral l0 designates generall a hollow metal poppet valve blank having a hollow head Illa, a hol low stem Illb and an enlarged nubbin lflc at the end of the stem. The stem has a cylindricalbore H extending inwardly from. the-nubbin end thereof and merging into a ta red or conical.

bore l2 which extends to thehead cavity 13 of thehollow headllla.v The taperedbore. l2 provides a thickened throat-portion llldfor the;

blank. V

The blank can be prepared by forging, for

example, as described in the McBrideet a1. Patent 1,984,751, or byanyother suitable process.

In accordance with this invention, the cylindrical bore II and tapered bore l2 of .the stem lllb are reamed to size with a reaming tool. v:The reaming tool-may leave circumferential or helically extending marks 14 in the interior wall of the stem, which must be removed. For this .purpose the'valve blank 10 is slipped overa rotatingpolishing tool-l5 sized to snugly engage the walls of the bores ll .and,-l2. Forthis purpose the-tool l5 hasa tapered leadingend I5ato engage thewallof the tapered bore 12 and atrailing cylindrical end 15b to engage the wall of the bcre II. The tool 15 is mountedon ahorizontal shaft 16 which canbe .rotatablymounted-in a support" and driventhrough a pulley l8 bya driven belt I5. i

As shown in Figure 5, the tool. I5 is covered with a helically wound strip 20 of abrasive paper or cloth such as emery cloth.

For the first polishingoperationa No. 80 emery cloth is used. Such a cloth has abrasive particles sized to pass a screen having eighty openings per linear inch.

The interior of the stem lob is thus polished in a circumferential direction by the abrasive cloth and, since the tool t5 rotates circumferential scratches will remain in the walls ,of the boresH and I2.

After the interior walls .of the stem arepolished to remove scratches capable of being removed by a No. 80 abrasive cloth, the .tool l5,.or another tool,..is provided with.,a finerabrasive cloth; usually having abrasive particles "of about No. 120 size. The rotary polishing operation .is continued with this .finer cloth and maybelfol- .to be driven by a belt 21. The tool 15 will not rotate in the machine 20 but will reciprocate into the bores H and 12 of the valve stem 10?).

The-tool I5 used for the swabbing type polishing treatment can have an abrasive covering thereon at least as fine or finer than the abrasive used for. thelas't rotary polishing operation,

lowed up by a third rotary polishing operation with a still finer abrasive cloth such as a No. .180.

The blank l0, uponcompletion'of the. rotary polishingtreatment, is polished considerably but, as illustrated in Figure 3., the walls of .the'bores II and I2 still have.circumferentially"extending scratches 2| remaining therein. These scratches maybe of microscopic .size,-but are still highly detrimental since they can form .fatigue loci for cracks when the valve is axially loaded as in 0p.

? eration.

It is, thus, highly desirable to remove the cir- The reciprocating polishing treatment is continued until all of the circumferentially extending-scratches 2! are removed. A valve stem interioras shown in .Figure .4 then results. As therein shown the bores II and [2 have the walls thereof free from circumferential.scratches but containing a plurality of longitudinal or .axial scratches 28. These axial scratches will not form locifor cracks developed because of axial tension load on the valve stem. Since the radial load on the valve stem is relatively negligible the longitudinal scratches 28 are immaterial and do not in any way weaken the valve.

In this method of polishing, therefore, the valve stem interior is subjected to successive rotary polishing treatments with abrasive material of progressively increasing fineness. After the last rotary polishing treatment with very fine abrasive material the valve stem interior is further polished in a longitudinal direction with an abrasive at least as fine as the one used in the last rotary polishing step. The longitudinal polishingis continued until all circumferentially extending scratches are removed from the interior wall of the stem.

According to a'modified process of this invention the longitudinal polishing operation may alternate with the rotary polishing treatment as long as the lastpolishing treatment is in a longitudinal direction. For exampletheitool' marks produced by the reaming or drilling tools in the valve stem can first be treated with a rotatin polishing .tool carryingabrasive material up to a No. '80 size.. This rotary polishing treatment or treatments is then'followed by a longitudinal swabbing polishing treatment with a No. abrasive. The longitudinal treatment is then next followed with a rotary treatment with a No. abrasive, and the final treatment can be in a longitudinal direction with a No; 180 abrasive, or even as fine as a No. 320.

Instead of using abrasive cloth on'either'or both the rotating or reciprocating tools 15, polishing stones carrying abrading particles of the proper-size can be'used. For example, the tool l5, as shown in Figures 6 and 7, can carry a pair of hollow polishing stones 3!! shaped to fit around the end of thetool. These-stones 30'are urged outwardly by means of aspring 3| which can extend through a transverse bore 32 in the'tool;

Studs 33 can extend through the'stones 3B and be threaded into the tool 15. The stones '30 can slide over the studs.

In this spring-urged stone type of polishing tool the stones are resiliently urged apart so that they will snugly engage the wallsof the bores H and i2 topolish these'walls. The stonescan be made with abrasive particles of the same lineness described above in connection with the polishing cloth 20.

From the above descriptions it will be understood that this invention now provides stronger hollow stemmed poppet valves by obliterating all circumferentially extending scratches in the inner wall of the valve stem.

It will, of course, be understood that various details of the process may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention and it is, therefore, not the purpose to limit the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A hollow poppet valve comprising a headed body member having a hollow stem with a straight cylindrical bore extending along the length of the stem from the end thereof and a tapered bore extending from said cylindrical bore into the head cavity, said hollow stem having a relatively thin stem wall With a highly polished interior surface substantially free from circumferentially extending scratches or cracks and containing scratches parallel with the axis of the stem and located in difiererit longitudinal planes.

2. A hollow stemmed poppet valve for high speed high compression engines, said valve having a relatively thin stem wall with a highly polished interior surface devoid of transversely extending scratches of appreciable length and containing scratches parallel with the axis of the stem and located in difierent longitudinal planes.

ARCHIE T. COLWELL. 

